Label



Sept. 15, 1964 w. H. VANDER WEEL ETAL 3,148,468

LABEL Filed June 9, 1961 33 *7i7illlilllllllll) FIG. 3

INVENTOR WALTER H. VANDER WEEL JOHN F. MCCARTHY AQ u;

ATTORNEY United States Patent LABEL Walter H. Vander Weel, 269%) Lake Road, Ontario, N.Y., and John F. McCarthy, 1039 Pleasant St, Brockton,

Mass.

Fiied June 9, 1961, Ser. No. 116,007 6 Claims. (Cl. 40-2) This invention relates to a label for goods and more particularly to a label which can be identifiably marked, operably adhered to an article, and retrovertedly folded onto itself to form a substantially chemically inert, weather resistant, tenaciously adherent, protectively covered mark.

Labels which are easily applied and which are durable in use have utility in many applications, such as in outdoor marking of structural steel, electrical conduits, valves, outlets, meters, parking areas and storage facilities, and indoor marking of stock shelves, bins, panelboards, samples, fies, boxes and experimental and laboratory equipment. The article of this invention provides a label which can be easily atfixed to and removed from goods without mutilating the goods, and which virtually cannot be unintentionally removed from goods by a person or by the destructive forces of natural elements or chemicals.

It is an object of this invention to provide a label for an article which can be easily applied to goods.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a detachable, tenaciously adherent label for goods.

Another object of this invention is to provide a label whereon non-permanent markings can be operably protected from obliteration.

Another object is to provide an improvement in the device described in United States Patent 2,670,971.

Other objects will become apparent from the drawings and from the following detailed description in which it is intended to illustrate the applicability of the invention without thereby limiting its scope to less than that of all equivalents which will be apparent to one skilled in the art. In the drawings like reference numerals refer to like parts and:

FIGURE 1 is a cross-sectional perspective view of a portion of an article of the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional perspective view of the embodiment of FIGURE 1 operably attached to goods.

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of another embodiment.

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional View of a portion of another embodiment.

In FIGURE 1, label 11 comprises inscribable paper sheet or web 12, transparent synthetic resin film sheet or web 14, adhesive layers 13, 13' and 13", and protective papers 15 and 16. Adhesive 13 may be coated over the entire bottom surface of paper 12 as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 or in strips over the entire bottom face of paper 12 in the manner shown in FIGURE 4 for adhesive 43 on material 49 which may be substituted for paper 12. Adhesive 13" is coated on an edge-adjacent portion of the top face of paper 12, which portion overlaps in mating relationship an edge-adjacent portion of the bottom face of film 14 so as to adhesively unite film 14 with paper 12. Adhesive 13' is preferably coated over the entire top surface of film 14 as shown. Suitable compositions for adhesives 13, 13' and 13 are described below. Protective papers 15 and 16 may extend beyond the exposed adhesive surfaces 13 and 13, as shown with respect to other embodiments in FIGURES 3 and 4. Protective paper sheets 15 and 16 are coated or impregnated with a composition to cause them to only weakly adhere to adhesive layers 13 and 13'; such a composition may be one or more of: silicone resin, mineral salts or starch sizing or other 3,148,468 Patented Sept. 15,, 1964 solid coherent compositions which are lubricious and adhesive in nature and which will not transfer to the adhesive layer or otherwise deleteriously affect this layer, so that sheets 15 and 16 may be easily removed.

In FIGURE 2 label 11 is shown afiiXed to article 10; protective paper sheets or webs 15 and 16 of FIGURE 1 have been stripped from label 11 and markable paper sheet or web 12 may have been inscribed with indicia before transparent film 14 is folded by adhesive 13". Adhesives 13, 13' and 13" may be of different thicknesses as shown and may be of similar or different compositions. The article of FIGURES 1 and 2 provides a firmly adherent and waterproof label that is resistant to chemical and solvent attack. In the folding of label 11, after removal of the protective paper sheets 15 and 16, adhesive layer 13' is folded back upon itself as shown in FIGURE 2 so as to adhere the transparent film 14 to the inscribable paper 12.

As shown in FIGURE 3, adhesive 33 is coated on the bottom portion of markable paper 32 and is provided with protective paper 36 in a manner similar to paper 16 of FIGURES 1 and 2. A transparent film 34 which corresponds to film 14 may have a portion adjacent one edge folded under and adhered to inscribable paper 32 by means of adhesive 33" so that said edge portion contacts in mating relationship an edge-adjacent portion of the top face of markable paper 32 so as to adhesively unite the upper edge portion of inscribable paper 32 and the bottom surface of film 34. The entire upper surface of the remainer of film 34 may be coated with adhesive 33'. Protective paper 35 may be secured to the film 34 by adhesive 33', in the same manner as protective paper 15 in FIG- URE 1. Adhesive 33" and 33' may be identical in composition and may be contiguous to form a single layer. Label 31 may be aifixed to an article by removing paper 36 and adhering the label to the article with adhesive 33. Protective paper 35 may then be removed, before or after indicia are marked on paper 32, and film 34 may then be folded to contact markable paper 32 with adhesive 33' so that adhesive 33' adherently attaches the bottom sur face of film 34 to inscribable paper 32.

The material that is used for the markable portion of the label, herein previously described as markable paper or inscribable paper, may be any paper, plastic, or other material, either film or woven, which is receptive of ink, pencil marking, crayon, or other graphic printing, inscribing or writing media for providing indicia on the material.

As shown in FIGURE 4, we may provide a strip of transparent synthetic resin film 42, having a matte finish 47 on its upper surface, which may be adhered with adhesive 48 (which may be colored) to a synthetic resin film 49. The lower surface of film 49 may be coated in strips with adhesive 43. A portion of the upper surface of transparent film 42 may be bonded adjacent one edge, by adhesive 43", to an edge-adjacent portion of the lower surface of film 44. The entire upper surface of film 44 may be coated with pressure sensitive adhesive 43'. Exposed adhesive surfaces 43 and 43' may be covered with weakly adherent protective paper layers 45 and 46 which may extend beyond layers 43 and 43' as shown so that the papers may be easily grasped with the fingers. Film 42 may be any suitable transparent film such as cellulose acetate. Adhesive 48 may be colored (with a pigment or by dyeing) a suitable color such as white to contrast with the indicia which may be marked on film 42. Alternatively and preferably, film 42 may be colored, as by including a pigment or a dye in its composition, and if so, adhesive 48 may be either colored or transparent. Adhesive 48 need not be pressure sensitive. Film 49 is preferably a relatively thick film to provide bulk and may be, but need not be, transparent and may be moisture resistant, suitable materials for the film 49 being for example polystyrene and cellulose acetate.

The protective papers for the adhesive in the several embodiments may be made from treated synthetic resin film or coated paper or other material which will cleanly separate from the adhesive on the label when the papers are stripped from the label. Materials that may be used to provide clean separation with ease include strongly coherent solid lubricious substances such as wax or silicones or dry comminuted firmly bound materials such as starch and mineral salts in a sizing composition.

The transparent protective film 14, 34, or 44, may be of any material that possesses properties of high transparency to light, virtual imperviousness to water and water vapor, and good resistance to chemical and solvent attack. The film material which is employed must be firmly adhered to the adhesive material. Synthetic resinous film compositions which can be utilized as such transparent Waterproof protective coverings include polyvinylchloride, polyvinylidene chloride, copolymers thereof such as Saran (registered trademark), cellulose acetate, polyvinylfluoride such as Teslar (registered trademark) polyethylene, halogenated polyethylene such as Teflon (registered trademark), or Kel-F (registered trademark), polypropylene, polyesters, hexamethylene diamine-adipic acid copolymers or others such as nylon and other continuous film compositions. The transparent protective covering portion of the label must be flexible, foldable and preferably resistant to chemical attack. Cellophane may be used but is inferior in utility to the other listed compositions because of its low strength and lack of moisture resistance.

Each of the adhesive layer portions of the label may be any suitable waterproof, solvent-resistant composition. In the preferred embodiments the adhesives that are used are composed of various pressure sensitive compositions. The various adhesive compositions used as the outside face coating for the transparent film and markable paper should be tenaciously adherent to the transparent film and to the non-legible under surface of the markable paper. It is to be preferred that the transparent film may be stripped from the legible face of the markable paper without mutilating the face of the markable paper. It is also preferred that the label, after the transparent film is stripped from the markable paper, be reusable. Hard drying adhesive materials may also be used in non-preferred embodiments. The adhesive composition for adhesively adhering the lower edge portion of the film with the upper edge portion of the markable paper should be stronger than the other adhesive compositions and be able to withstand substantial lateral tension.

The desirable properties of the preferred embodiments are best realized by using different adhesive compositions, one composition being used for the adhesive which provides the bond between the transparent film and the legible face of the markable strips, such as adhesive 13, 33', or 43', while adhesive 13, a different composition, is used for 33 or 43, which provides the bond between the label and the object to which it is adhered, and another composition is used for adhesive 13", 33", or 43", which provides the bond between inscribable material 12, 32, or 47 and the transparent film 14, 34 and 44. Adhesives 13", 33" and 43", are preferably composed of a more tenaciously adherent composition than the compositions used for adhesives 13, 33' and 43', or the compositions used for adhesives 13, 33 or 43. In the case of adhesives 13, 33, 43, 13', 33', and 43, the protective paper must be removable from the adhesive without the transfer of these adhesives to the protective papers from the other portions of the label. Adhesives 13", 33" and 43" must be firmly adherent and able to withstand stresses tending to pull the markable paper and the film apart. In a less preferred embodiment, not shown for the sake of simplicity, all adhesives may be of identical or similar compositions.

By tenaciously adherent, we mean that after the label is atfixed to an object, any attempt to strip the label from the object may result in tearing the paper apart rather than causing a failure of the bond between the paper and the adhesive. By only non-destructively adherent we mean that after being adhered to a markable surface such as the surface of paper 12, the film 14 may be peeled from the surface 12 by parting of the adhesive bond between the adhesive and the paper without failure within the paper or failure at the bond between the adhesive and the film such as between 13 and 14. The composition of adhesive 13", 33" or 43 is preferably such that the bond between protective transparent film 14, 34 or 44 and the markable material 12, 32 or 42 is preferably equal to or greater in strength than any other bond in the article of the invention so as to prevent complete separation of the markable material and the protective transparent film of the label during storage and use. Hence it is preferred that the composition of adhesives 13", 33" or 43" not be the same as that of adhesives 13, 33 or 43. The layer formed by adhesive 13", 33" or 43" may be (but need not be) a little thicker than the layers formed by the other adhesives. Thus, suitable adhesive composition which might be used include, for adhesives 13, 33 or 43 (which is preferably transparent), and adhesives 13, 33' or 43 (which may be transparent but need not be):

Pounds Mixture of polymers of pinenes, principally beta pinene (nopinene), sold commercially as Piccolyte by Pennsylvania Industrial Chemical Corp, Clairton, Pennsylvania; having a specific gravity of about 99 and melting at about F. 10 to 25 Natural rubber 50 to 60 Zinc oxide or other pigment 2 to 5 Cyclicized rubber 2 to 5 Polyisobutylene 5 to 20 and for adhesive 13", 33" or 43":

Parts Compounded neoprene latex 5 Dihydromethyl abietate (sold commercially as Staybelite ester 10 by Hercules Powder Co.) 1

Adhesive 13, 33' or 43' is preferably transparent to provide legibility of indicia marked on the markable material. As another formula for the latter adhesive, We may use:

Pounds Crepe natural rubber 4O Staybelite Ester 1O 40 Lanolin oil 10 Alkylated polyhydric phenol /2 The article of the invention, in several embodiments, is preferably made in the form of a strip or web of continuous or indefinite length which is then cut transversely at spaced apart intervals to provide units suitable for use in accordance with the description herein. Furthermore, transverse cuts or scores may be provided, at intervals, which do not extend completely across the article and therefore do not sever the web but permit the user to easily tear across the web to sever individual portions. We prefer not to provide the article in other than the form of a continuous strip or strip portions torn or cut from such a strip.

To use the article, the markable material is inscribed with indicia as a first step and then protective strip 16, 36, or 46 is removed and the article of the invention is pressed against the surface of an article (such as one to be labeled) to attach the two (as label 11 is attached to article 20) by means of adhesive 13, 33, or 43, as a second step. The first and second steps may be reversed. As a third step, strip 15, 35, or 45 is removed and film 14, 34, or 44 is folded over and pressed against the markable material to adhere it to the markable material by adhesive 13, 33', or 43'. Alternatively, the third step may be carried out after the first step but before the second step.

In another non-preferred embodiment of the invention, one adhesive composition can operably be used if permanent aflixation of the protective transparent cover to the legible face of the markable paper is acceptable.

Labels in accordance with this invention may be constructed with markable materials of transparent, translucent, or opaque markable materials which comprise film, foil, or fabric; the markable materials may be colored or uncolored and should be enabled to be marked by being printed, typewritten, or manually written upon with pencil or ink.

In the embodiment of FIGURE 4, a single film (which may suitably be marked upon) may quite suitably be used in place of the two films 42 and 43 joined with adhesive 48.

The configuration of the labels may be as shown in FIGURES 1 and 4 or may be of other configurations such as that of a markable strip with two or more adjacent transparent portions which are foldable over onto the strip. The markable portion of the label and the protective covering portion of the label may each be composed of a single material of either one ply or multi-ply construction. Heat sealable adhesives or films may be used partially or entirely in place of pressure sensitive adhesives. Such materials as polyethylene or a polyethylene and polyester laminate provide satisfactory materials for use by heat sealing.

While certain modifications and embodiments of the invention have been described, it is of course to be understood that there are a great number of variations which will suggest themselves to anyone familiar with the subject matter thereof and it is to be distinctly understood that this invention should not be limited except by such limitations as are clearly imposed in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. An article of the type described comprising in combination a flexible web of graphically inscribable material, a web of transparent flexible, foldable material, each of said webs having two faces, one of the faces of each of said webs of material being disposed in mutually par tially overlapping mating relationship a coating of adhesive material completely covering one of the faces of said webs, which faces are opposite to said mating faces of said webs, two layers of strippable material relatively weakly adhered to each of said adhesives coated on the face of each of said webs, covering exposed portions of said adhesive coating, the flexible web of transparent material being joined to the web of graphically inscribable material in the area of overlap between said mating faces by an adhesive.

2. An article of the type described comprising in combination a flexible web of graphically inscribable material, a web of transparent flexible foldable material, each of said webs having two faces, one of the faces of each of said webs disposed in mutually partially overlapping mating relationship, the overlapping mating of each of said webs united by means of a layer of adhesive, the other faces of said webs being coated each with a layer of adhesive covering the entire exposed face portion of each of said webs, said layers covering the entire portion of the faces of the webs being of unequal tenacity, the adhesive layer coating the entire face of the transparent web being of less tenacity than the layer coating the entire face of the inscribable web, webs of strippable material weakly adherent to said adhesive, said webs of strippable material covering exposed portions of said adhesive coating.

3. An article of the type described comprising in combination a flexible web of graphically inscribable material having an upper face and a lower face, a web of transparent flexible, foldable material having an upper face and a lower face, each of said webs of material being disposed in mutually overlapping mating relationship on an edge-adjacent face portion, an adhesive coating comprising three portions, one portion of greater tenacity coated on the overlapping edge portions of each of the mating faces of said graphically inscribable material and said transparent material, and the two other portions being of lesser tencity than said adhesive coated on the overlapping edge portions of each of said mating faces, each portion being coated on the entire exposed faces of the transparent material, and the graphically inscrib able material, which faces are opposite to the overlapping faces of said webs, webs of strippable material, relatively weakly adherent to said adhesive, covering exposed portions of said adhesive coating.

4. An article of the type described comprising in combination a web of flem'ble graphically inscribable material having edges and an upper face and a lower face, a web of transparent flexible foldable material having edges and an upper face and a lower face, each of said Webs of material having a portion of one of said faces adjacent to one edge of the web adhered to a like portion of the face of the other web, pressure sensitive adhesive of great tenacity on the lower face of said web of graphically inscribable material to adhere to the web to a solid surface, a coating of pressure sensitive adhesive of lesser tenacity entirely covering the exposed portions of the upper face of said web, webs of strippable material relatively weakly adherent to said adhesives and covering exposed portions of said adhesives.

5. An article of the type described comprising in combination a web of flexible graphically inscribable material having edges and an upper face and a lower face, a web of transparent flexible foldable material having edges and an upper face and a lower face, each of said webs of material having a portion of one of said faces adjacent to the upper edge of the web adhered to a like portion of the face of the other web, pressure sensitive adhesive of great tenacity on the lower face of said Web of graphically inscribable material to adhere the web to a solid surface, a coating of pressure sensitive adhesive of lesser tenacity entirely covering the exposed portions of the upper face of said web, webs of strippable material relatively Weakly adherent to said adhesives and covering exposed portions of said adhesives.

6. An article of the type described comprising in combination a web of flexible graphically inscribable material having edges and an upper face and a lower face, a web of transparent flexible foldable material having edges and an upper face and a lower face, each of said webs of material having a portion of one of said faces adjacent to the lower edge of the web adhered to a like portion of the face of the other web, pressure sensitive adhesive of great tenacity on the lower face of said web of graphically inscribable material to adhere the web to a solid surface, a coating of pressure sensitive adhesive of lesser tenacity entirely covering the exposed portions of the upper face of said web, webs of strippable material relatively weakly adherent to said adhesives and covering exposed portions of said adhesives.

Harris July 6, 1954 Harris Oct. 23, 1956 

1. AN ARTICLE OF THE TYPE DESCRIBED COMPRISING IN COMBINATION A FLEXIBLE WEB OF GRAPHICALLY INSCRIBABLE MATERIAL, A WEB OF TRANSPARENT FLEXIBLE, FOLDABLE MATERIAL, EACH OF SAID WEBS HAVING TWO FACES, ONE OF THE FACES OF EACH OF SAID WEBS OF MATERIAL BEING DISPOSED IN MUTUALLY PARTIALLY OVERLAPPING MATING RELATIONSHIP A COATING OF ADHESIVE MATERIAL COMPLETELY COVERING ONE OF THE FACES OF SAID WEBS, WHICH FACES ARE OPPOSITE TO SAID MATING FACES OF SAID WEBS, TWO LAYERS OF STRIPPABLE MATERIAL RELATIVELY WEAKLY ADHERED TO EACH OF SAID ADHESIVES COATED ON THE FACE OF EACH OF SAID WEBS, COVERING EXPOSED PORTIONS OF SAID ADHESIVE COATING, THE FLEXIBLE WEB OF TRANSPARENT MATERIAL BEING JOINED TO THE WEB OF GRAPHICALLY INSCRIBABLE MATERIAL IN THE AREA OF OVERLAP BETWEEN SAID MATING FACES BY AN ADHESIVE. 